M is for Mommy

After almost 23 months of coaching, coaxing, bribing, and begging.
Emma finally said "Mommy."

It was last Saturday afternoon.
We were sitting on the bed
watching "Chicken Little" for the thousandth time,
and out of the blue Emma said, "Mommy!"

I turned around and smiled at her and said,
"Yessss! Mommy! That's me!!!"

For the next 10 minutes, all she did
was say Mommy.
Everytime she does, I turn my head towards her,
saying, "Yes Emma?"

Finally, I got tired of whipping my head around,
so I did not look when she said Mommy again.
Instead I just said, "very good Emma."

Of course she was not happy with that.
She grabbed my sleeve and started pulling me towards her.
When my head is within her grasp,
she grabbed my face and she made me look at her.
Then she said, "Mommy!"

Sunday -
I needed to use the bathroom, so I left Emma
with my brother in the living room.
A few seconds after I closed the bathroom door.
She started banging on the door, yelling,
"Mommy! Mommy! Mom! Mom!"

Lesson learned:
It was easier to ignore the banging
and screaming when you can't
understand a word that was being said,
compared to hearing your name (in my case
the word Mommy) being said over and over again.